Installation

The fastest way to try ContextCake on macOS is the signed, notarized app. ContextCake also runs directly from versioned source. The recommended source route is a verified source archive; shallow Git and GitHub CLI checkouts are available when you already use source-control tooling. The engine is dependency-free: there is no npm install step, no install scripts execute, and the resolver quickstart fetches nothing after the source is on your machine.

If you are still evaluating whether the model fits your team, start with the demo or the docs overview and come back here when you want the local setup path.

macOS app (recommended)

Download the DMG for your Mac from app-v0.10.0. Each file is signed, notarized, and listed in SHA256SUMS.

Mac	Download	Size	SHA-256
Apple silicon	ContextCake-0.10.0-arm64.dmg	118.6 MB	`4b03027833d336b8f3ea7cb69a3441ea2d4b1d173daa0a3f47fa42d83ae76d41`
Intel	ContextCake-0.10.0-x64.dmg	122.0 MB	`9c49d13e9a7432049bc5e04f723e653ef508cd541dfa5416ec7c2f273e78972d`

Open the DMG and drag ContextCake to Applications. Open it from Applications; macOS may ask you to confirm the first launch.

The app’s activation path is:

Choose Get started, then add a Markdown folder. Repository docs, Obsidian vaults, wiki exports, and other folders containing .md, .mdx, or .txt files work without conversion.
Finish source setup. ContextCake resolves the first available concept and confirms that your cascade is live.
Choose Connect an agent and select Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Claude Desktop, or another MCP client. The app prepares the local MCP setup and its verification step.
Paste the supplied first-use prompt into your client and check that the answer names its source and keeps any disagreement visible.

Source setup comes before agent connection: an agent needs at least one source to query. The app can also install the optional contextcake command when a client needs it.

Each release page contains the matching ZIP and checksums.

Linux app (.deb)

Download the package from app-v0.10.0. It is not signed; check it against its line in SHA256SUMS.

Linux	Download	Size	SHA-256
Debian and Ubuntu	ContextCake-0.10.0-amd64.deb	97.4 MB	`a6299f4176c652ab1ec46442a547e129cb7ffe371cc02b18a206555e3106dc6e`

The package is for x64 Debian and Ubuntu. Install it with apt, which also installs the libraries it needs:

sudo apt install ./ContextCake-*-amd64.deb

Open ContextCake from your applications menu. The setup steps match the macOS app above. The app lives in /opt/ContextCake and keeps settings and the source list in ~/.config/contextcake (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/contextcake), the folder the command-line tool reads. Chromium’s sandbox stays on: on Ubuntu 24.04 and later the package installs an AppArmor profile that allows it.

Updates: the app checks for new releases and links the download. It never installs one. Install the new .deb the same way.
Command-line tool: Help → Install Command Line Tool links contextcake into ~/.local/bin, with no sudo. If that folder is not on your PATH yet, log out and back in, or add it to your shell profile.
Credentials: GitHub tokens are encrypted with your desktop keyring, such as GNOME Keyring or KWallet. Without one, the app keeps tokens in memory until it quits, and Settings → Connections says so.

Other distributions and architectures can use the CLI below.

Use the CLI without the app

The contextcake command runs on macOS, Linux, and WSL with Node.js 22 or newer. Windows works on a best-effort basis. Install the version that matches app-v0.10.0:

npm install -g [email protected]

npm installs the tarball attached to the app-v0.10.0 release, with registry integrity sha512-RIGDfPVp7FkQM/YHo4Iphj60RAMruJegok0KFmI9m1tiegwCYsMgoBNJ13qbs5BPdpcpWUtkZB+gzwOvvKlkLg==. The package runs no install scripts.

Create a manifest, then add a folder of Markdown files as your first source:

contextcake init
contextcake source add notes --path ~/Documents/notes

init leaves an existing manifest alone. On macOS the CLI and the app read the same manifest. In WSL, the CLI keeps its own manifest in ~/.config/contextcake. It does not share a manifest with an app installed on Windows.

Connect an AI tool with the absolute path of the install you just made. Check which contextcake your shell finds. The connect command saves that full path.

command -v contextcake
claude mcp add --scope user contextcake -- "$(command -v contextcake)" mcp

codex mcp add contextcake -- "$(command -v contextcake)" mcp

To try a command without installing, run npx --yes [email protected] init. Keep npx out of AI tool settings: it runs from a cache folder that can change.

Prerequisites for the source route

Node.js ≥ 22
One download route: a browser, curl, GitHub CLI, or Git

Choose a route

Every route below targets the verified app-v0.9.1 coordinated release tag. Use the archive when you want the smallest inspectable download, or a shallow Git checkout when you already work with source-control tools.

Terminal download (recommended)

On macOS, Linux, or WSL:

curl --fail --location https://github.com/ContextCake/context-cake/archive/refs/tags/app-v0.9.1.tar.gz \\
  --output context-cake-app-v0.9.1.tar.gz

You can also download the same archive in your browser.

GitHub CLI

If you already use gh, create a shallow checkout at the same tag:

gh repo clone ContextCake/context-cake contextcake -- \\
  --branch app-v0.9.1 --depth 1
cd contextcake

Git

git clone --branch app-v0.9.1 --depth 1 \\
  https://github.com/ContextCake/context-cake.git contextcake
cd contextcake

Git and GitHub CLI users can skip directly to Verify the resolver.

Verify and unpack the archive

If you downloaded the archive with curl or your browser, verify it before unpacking:

printf '%s  %s\n' 'f5538d20ed5cb5d0503e6624f0f3b94805524526634cc4b22e23b44bcc252201' 'context-cake-app-v0.9.1.tar.gz' | shasum -a 256 --check &&
mkdir contextcake &&
tar -xzf context-cake-app-v0.9.1.tar.gz -C contextcake --strip-components=1 &&
cd contextcake

These commands target the app-v0.9.1 release instead of following the latest source checkout, and stop before extraction if the downloaded bytes do not match the published SHA-256.

Verify the resolver

Resolve a concept from the bundled three-layer demo, where the layers deliberately disagree:

node resolver.mjs --manifest apps/playground/manifest.json --concept decisions/primary-db

The JSON output shows the effective merge: contributors lists each layer with its last-updated date, every section carries the sourceLayer that won it, and sections where layers disagree carry a conflicts array with the dissenting layers’ content and dates, surfaced rather than hidden.

To run the full test suite (requires bash):

npm test

What you just installed

Piece	Run with
Cascade resolver (CLI)	`node resolver.mjs --manifest <manifest> --concept <id>`
MCP server for agents	`node mcp-server.mjs --manifest <manifest>`
Interactive playground	`npm run playground` → http://127.0.0.1:8790
Capture write path	`node ingest.mjs` / `node write.mjs`

Source checkout

Use a git checkout when you want to inspect history, contribute changes, or pin your own fork:

git clone https://github.com/ContextCake/context-cake.git
cd context-cake
node resolver.mjs --manifest apps/playground/manifest.json --concept decisions/primary-db

The versioned archive and the current source tree both use apps/playground/manifest.json for the bundled demo.

Why a source archive?

Package registries have repeatedly shipped compromised AI/agent tooling through hijacked maintainer accounts and postinstall payloads. A knowledge engine your agents read from should have a supply chain you can audit: a source archive is small, inspectable, and runnable as plain Node.js.

The npm package keeps to the same rules. It is the tarball attached to the signed GitHub release, published from GitHub Actions through npm trusted publishing with provenance. It has no dependencies and no install scripts. Use it when you want the CLI without the app. Use the source archive when you want to read every file before you run anything.

The signed macOS app is the recommended guided route. When the current release includes the verified Claude Desktop .mcpb bundle, the Install page shows its checksum-pinned download and manifest setup. A Homebrew cask will appear only after the first-party tap has been published and tested.

Windows users can run the npm CLI or the source route in WSL. Native Windows works on a best-effort basis.

Your first cascade: build your own layers
Connect an agent (MCP): wire it into your AI client
The trust boundary: read this before pointing a manifest at sources you didn’t write